May 14, 2025 • 21 mins
Winning Through Strategic Partnerships with Eric Roach of Dropsuite
In this episode of the WIN Podcast, host Carrie Richardson sits down with Eric Roach, SVP of Global Sales and Marketing at Dropsuite, to explore how strategic partnerships can supercharge growth.
With PAX8 Beyond on the horizon, Eric shares how Dropsuite leverages major events not just for exposure—but for creating deep, scalable engagement with MSP partners.
You’ll learn how Dropsuite transforms post-event reflections into proactive planning, how they equip their teams for meaningful conversations on the show floor, and why true alignment with vendor partners starts long before the booth setup.
Whether you’re prepping for your next event or evaluating your vendor ecosystem, this conversation will help you make your next move intentionally—and strategically.
Learn more about strategic vendor partnerships in this Fox & Crow Group article.
Carrie Richardson and Ian Richardson host the WIN Podcast - What's Important Now?
Serial entrepreneurs, life partners and business partners, they have successfully exited from multiple businesses (IT, call center, real estate, marketing) and they help other business owners create their own versions of success.
Ian is certified in Eagle Center For Leadership Making A Difference, Paterson StratOp, and LifePlan.
Carrie has helped create and execute successful outbound sales strategies for over 1200 technology-focused businesses including MSPs, manufacturers, distributors and SaaS firms.
Learn more at www.foxcrowgroup.com
Book time with Carrie here!
Be a guest on WIN! We host successful entrepreneurs who share advice with other entrepreneurs on how to build, grow or sell a business using examples from their own experience.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Richardson (00:00):
Good afternoon everybody.
My name is Carrie Richardson andI am your host for the WIN
Podcast.
With me today is Eric Roach, whois the Senior Vice President of
Global Sales and Marketing forDrop Suite.
Drop Suite's going to beexhibiting at PAX 8 Beyond in
June in Denver, and we're askingthem some questions about how
(00:21):
vendors and MSPs can maximizetheir ROI when they're attending
an event the size of PAX 8Beyond.
Eric, thanks for joining metoday.
Eric Roach (00:30):
Thanks Carrie.
Carrie Richardson (00:32):
tell me about your previous experience at PAX
8.
Beyond.
I know Drop Suite's been avendor there previously.
Eric Roach (00:38):
Yes, we have.
I we've done all three of thePAX 8 events in Denver.
each of the events have beenfantastic.
Last year, did the first, eventin Berlin.
For the PAX 8 emea Beyond event.
This will be our fourth Beyondin total, and we're super
excited about how the PAX 8Beyond community continues to
(00:59):
grow.
it gives us a great opportunityto be in front of not just
hundreds of existing MSPs thatwe deal bus, do business with
daily, but also of courseperspective MSPs that we're not
doing business with today.
we're very excited.
Carrie Richardson (01:13):
Is there a significant difference between
the culture or the community inthe EMEA space, or is it a
fairly similar experience?
Eric Roach (01:22):
I think it's similar in terms of how Pax 8 executes
the event and how they approachthe event and how they are
trying to bring value to each ofthe partners that attend.
The biggest difference is it'smuch smaller in scale as this is
the first time they had done itin Berlin.
We've already signed up for, theevent in Amsterdam coming up, in
October.
(01:42):
The biggest difference is scale,but it feels very similar in
terms of the value we get as aparticipating vendor, in
investing in the show.
We participate in many events,globally on an annual basis.
the thing that stands out aboutthe Beyond event is certainly
the scale.
it is just a huge event, andbecause PAX 8 is such a close
(02:05):
partner of ours, it is a greatopportunity for us to, get in
front of so many of ourpartners.
in terms of the presentations,the individual breakout
sessions, the entertainment,it's at the top of the list in
terms of the events that weparticipated on an annual basis.
Carrie Richardson (02:24):
How far in advance of the event do you
begin preparing?
Eric Roach (02:29):
We kind of start preparing immediately after the
previous.
This is a big event for us.
We think about this event interms of how we launch new
products, how we launch newfeatures, how we launch new
programs.
And a lot of it has to do with.
trying to make that as real timeas possible for each of the
Beyond events.
Once the team goes through aBeyond event, we'll immediately
(02:49):
huddle up, we'll talk about whatworked, what didn't, and the
planning process for how we moveforward with the next version
starts at that point.
We're always collectinginformation on, what moved the
needle, what didn't, in terms ofmessaging, programs, potentially
incentives and spiffs that wemay launch in terms of how we
scan badges at the booth.
(03:10):
Everything gets dissected.
We immediately start actioning,on the next year's, event based
on what we've learned and, thepivots that we're looking to
make.
Carrie Richardson (03:19):
How much preparation goes into inviting
people to visit the booth orhosting events on site?
Eric Roach (03:30):
Months and months.
We have a cross-functional teamacross marketing, across sales,
across management that isplanning for months and
orchestrating what we want todo.
What's the timing?
How do we bring the mostattention to DropSuite with the
audience?
We worked really closely withPAX 8 to understand the dynamics
of the event this year.
We'll work very closely with ourpartners at PAX 8 just to ensure
(03:53):
that what we are planning todeliver is not just gonna meet
the mark for Dropsuite, but it'sgonna meet the mark for the
MSPs.
We start planning for the JuneBeyond events mid January in
terms of really fine tuning ourmessaging and our approach.
Carrie Richardson (04:10):
do you feel like you've got an advantage
being in the PAX 8 marketplaceas a vendor at PAX 8?
Eric Roach (04:15):
PAX 8 is one of our strongest industry partners.
we're always collecting feedbackon where we can be better from
our MSPs on what they're lookingfor, what moves the needle for
them.
MSPs have many choices in whothey do business with, and it's,
important for us to stay infront of what's most important
to them.
They are at the forefront ofevolving end customer
(04:37):
requirements that are alwayschanging.
it's super dynamic.
We wanna make sure we're takingthe right approach in how we
message to our partners on sitewhether it be directly from PAX
8 or those partners themselves.
Carrie Richardson (04:49):
What will you be changing this year based on
feedback from previous years?
Eric Roach (04:54):
We are gonna send a team of 12 or 13 individuals
across functions- sales,product, marketing, support, and
our executive team.
Not only is it important to havegood qualified conversations
with our MSPs at our booth, butwe also want to make sure that
we're, we have the resourcing toallocate time to meet one-on-one
(05:15):
with partners outside of exhibittime.
It's great to have 4 minuteconversations with a partner or
a prospective partner in thebooth.
But more importantly, we wannamake sure that the partners that
want to meet with us and talkabout their business and how we
can potentially work together todrive growth for both of our
companies.
We wanna make sure that we havethe right team and titles, at
the event to accommodate thosemeetings.
(05:36):
We can address everything that'sgonna be on the minds of our
partners and prospectivepartners.
That goes up to the executivelevel.
The other thing that we're doingwhich comes from previous
learnings is being able to havedemo stations in our booth.
We'll have different designateddemo stations where we'll be
able to walk a partner or aprospective partner through a
(05:57):
particular solution.
rather than just talk about it,we can say, Hey, would you like
to come over and we'll show youwhat we're talking about.
the way that we've invested inour booth this year is to enable
different types of conversationson the show floor.
I think that comes with thelearnings over the last couple
years.
Carrie Richardson (06:13):
are you using portable devices or are they
built into the booth?
How do you structure it so thatyou can fit that many people
into the booth With partners whoare crowded around specific
spaces.
Eric Roach (06:26):
the good thing is we have a super smart team who are
experts themselves in figuringout little problems like this.
So, how we're configuring ourbooth is, I believe we have
three demo stations.
We'll be able to run those demostations off a laptop, but we
have big LCD screens.
to accommodate a conversationwhere perhaps it's three or four
(06:46):
partners, in the sameconversation.
So it's not just let me swivelmy laptop around, but we've
invested.
The money to make sure that wehave the right displays to be
able to have that kind of aconversation as well as, you
know, being at the sponsorshiplevel, we have a larger,
footprint in terms of our booth,so we've been able to
strategically place where thosedemo stations are so we're not
(07:08):
talking over one another.
those are just the little thingsI think you pick up over the
years and trying to accommodatethe right conversations as
comfortably as possible for ourpartners.
Carrie Richardson (07:18):
I think we've known Drop Suite for probably 10
to 12 years now.
So when you first started on theevent circuit, you definitely
did not have a booth thatcould've fit three large LCD
screens.
So at what point
Eric Roach (07:35):
we've definitely grown up over the years for
sure.
which is exciting.
as any vendor out there wouldattest to, you have to pick your
bets on.
How big you're gonna go at eachof the events.
budgets are limited and as weplan the calendar of events for
the next year, we have to figureout, where we get the most bang
for our buck The PAX 8 Beyondevent is typically always at the
(07:56):
top of that list because it'sjust so important to us.
drop Suite would not be who weare today without the PAX 8
relationship.
six, seven years into thatrelationship, that still holds
true.
this is one of our biggest betsNot all events are the same.
We're not gonna get the same ROIout of every event.
This is one that we typically goall in on for all of those
reasons.
Carrie Richardson (08:17):
So for events like PAX 8 Beyond or the larger
events, how are youcommunicating with prospects
prior to the event?
how does that differ to howyou're going to engage with the
clients that you're alreadydoing business with?
Eric Roach (08:33):
As you can imagine, it's always easier to,
communicate and prepare withcurrent pro partners because
you're talking to them all thetime.
So as we have our sellerstalking to our partners, they're
asking questions like, Hey,who's going to Beyond?
You know, can we set up time toeither in the booth or, or
separately to meet a lot of ourpartners?
(08:53):
We'll, we'll ask questionsabout, you know, what's on your
mind.
You know, one partner might havea big idea that they wanna run
by us.
and so we'll, so our sales repswill navigate, who's the right
person for that conversation?
This stuff happens, weeks inadvance, which is great, because
then we can kind of make surethat.
We have the right team resourcefor every conversation, our
(09:15):
partner, everything that's topof mind for our partners.
You know, sometimes our partnersmight wanna talk about support
or they might want to talk abouthow do we go drive more leads
together.
So that would be more of amarketing conversation.
we try to get out in front ofthose conversations ahead of
time to make sure we have theright people, scheduled
Carrie Richardson (09:31):
Sorry about
Eric Roach (09:32):
There you go.
Carrie Richardson (09:35):
stop it.
Eric Roach (09:39):
on the perspective partner side, it's tough
because, typically we don't knowwho we're not.
But this is the stuff Itypically have to deal with on
my side of the call.
Carrie Richardson (09:52):
Normally she's pretty good, but I think
Ian ordered pizza, so the pizzaguy is here and that's what's,
happening right now.
she should calm down in asecond.
Eric Roach (10:00):
no problem.
Carrie Richardson (10:00):
Pick it up from where she started.
Sure, sure.
Eric Roach (10:03):
that's on the existing partners who we're
talking to every day, and weknow, when it comes to the,
perspective partners, that's alittle tough because We don't
know who's gonna be there thatwe don't have a relationship
with today.
typically we have a prettyhealthy funnel of new partners
that we're working through torecruit and activate at any
given month anyways, we're nowin the window of time before the
(10:24):
event where we're asking thosequestions, what industry events
are you gonna be at?
We would love to connect withyou face to face.
Oh, you're gonna be at Beyond.
Can we set up some time?
those conversations arehappening, it's just a little
more difficult when you don'tknow, who's gonna be there of
the partners you're not workingwith today.
Carrie Richardson (10:41):
So what have you done?
That's worked really well forDrop Suite over the years.
is there swag that peopleabsolutely love that became
collectors items, or do you kindof, the holy grail,
Eric Roach (10:54):
anybody who understands this business, the
Holy Grail is what's the hookthat you can come up with that's
gonna drive great traffic foryou?
in my experience, the hookreally is not the piece of swag.
It's you being the right partnerfor that MSP to talk to at that
time.
there's something of a relevancyperspective that makes sense for
(11:16):
that partner to wanna go seekyou out.
It's great that you can givethem, whatever the tchotchke of
the year is, whatever the caseis.
Those are always nice.
But the most meaningfulconversations that come to the
booth are from partners whohave.
Thought about who do they wantto talk to?
who are they potentially lookingto work with?
And they need to understand moreabout the solutions, the
(11:37):
company, that sort of thing.
those are always the bestdrivers to the booth.
it's not the swag, it's therelevancy.
Carrie Richardson (11:44):
you mentioned that you time releases or new
offerings with PAX 8 Beyond.
How many partners come up tospeak to you to figure out what
those things are going to be?
Or does it get announced beforethe event so there's some
excitement and people come tothe booth?
Or does it get announced at theevent and people will follow up
(12:05):
with you after?
Eric Roach (12:06):
Yeah, there's, a little bit of everything.
It just depends.
So for Beyond this year, we'vehad some product releases and
feature releases just in thelast.
Month.
That will be big talking pointsat the show.
now that we're about a monthout?
those are all things, from afeatures and functionality
perspective that we will talkabout that we've already
(12:27):
released.
we typically.
we typically have two bigrelease periods throughout the
year.
they happen to be around theBeyond events.
So we're in that process now.
And then we have some other,product releases that will come
out in the fall that willprobably be very much in concert
with, the Amsterdam event inemea.
Carrie Richardson (12:46):
How do you coordinate those schedules?
How do you figure out who'sworking the coffee shift and
who's doing the late night partyshift?
Eric Roach (12:55):
the late night party shift thing always gets figured
out on its own.
We don't have to do muchplanning for that one.
one thing about Drop Suite thatyou probably know because you've
been working with us for years,is.
when we attend an event likethis, titles and everything else
go out the window, you know, weexpect that we're gonna have all
of our people in the booth.
(13:16):
MSPs were around to haveconversations,
Carrie Richardson (13:19):
I've seen she the booth before,
Eric Roach (13:21):
yeah, I'll give you a very specific example in a
second.
the most meaningful time for us,is anytime we can interface with
partners.
we know that when, an MSP goesto Beyond the schedule is
completely packed, They're insessions.
They're in peer-to-peer stuff,they're in at the exhibits.
there's not a ton of free time,and this will get us into what's
(13:44):
most important to a new, MSP interms of how they approach
Beyond.
But what I was gonna say aboutthe booth is we typically have
everybody from our CEO toC-level individuals, to our
sales or product or supportpeople all in the booth
together.
Nobody is above scanning abadge.
Nobody is above giving a demo.
(14:04):
we're all there.
it's kind of a beautiful thingabout Drop Suite overall, but
kind of titles and that stuffgoes out the window.
We're all about having greatinteraction with partners and
that's why they're there.
Carrie Richardson (14:17):
And you mentioned that you had some
advice for MSPs that were new toPAX 8 Beyond this year.
Eric Roach (14:23):
Yeah.
for partners.
specifically MSPs new to anevent like Beyond, the most
important thing you can do,before the event is to plan.
and an an Ms.
P probably the three areas thatI think any Ms.
P would, agree that's mostvaluable in approaching an event
like PAX 8.
Beyond.
(14:43):
The first is connecting withvendors.
That's obviously first andforemost for us, we wanna
connect with you, but it'sconnecting with vendors, not
just vendors that you're workingwith in your portfolio today,
but also vendors that you mightbe targeting.
Like I'm hearing things aboutthis particular vendor, I have a
gap on my line card.
I need to go seek thatparticular, that particular
(15:04):
vendor out to have aconversation about whether
there's a fit.
the first thing is connectingwith vendors.
the second is peer-to-peernetworking.
MSPs, a vendor can tell an Ms.
P all day long about how greattheir solution is and how much
money they're gonna make inselling our solution.
But at the end of the day, MSPsknow that it's the peer-to-peer
networking where they canactually sit down and learn from
(15:26):
each other.
What are you working on?
What vendors are you workingwith that are actually moving
the needle for your business interms of how you, support your
customers?
It's that peer-to-peernetworking It's invaluable.
It's great to catch up withfriends in the industry that you
might see once a year on theconference circuit.
But the learnings that happenbetween MSPs I think is critical
(15:49):
for them.
And that's, that's a big valuein approaching an event last is
taking the opportunity to learn.
what's important for MSPs is,when they think about their tech
stack, what were theconsiderations five years ago
when you built that tech stackare those still the right
solutions in terms of how Iapproach my customers today and
tomorrow as they were 3, 4, 5,4, 5 years ago?
(16:12):
What gaps do I have in my linecard?
it's the greatest gift from anevent like this take the moment
to reflect on your business.
Where you're at in yourbusiness, how do you support
your customers?
The decisions I made 2, 3, 4years ago, are those still the
right decisions for the future?
what are the trends?
(16:33):
What are the hot technologies Ineed to think about as I expand
my offerings to my customers,it's that point of reflection.
that's super important at theend of the day.
Is how an MSP is going to getthe most out of, their two or
three days at Beyond.
So I think it all starts withjust having a plan.
What do I wanna come home with?
And then kind of work backwardsinto how you plan those three
(16:54):
days at Beyond.
Carrie Richardson (16:56):
Actually went to an event early in my career
where the host of the eventstood on the front of the stage
and made everybody write down.
The things that they wanted toget from the event.
And they said, if you don't getthese things from this event, I
want you to come see me afterthe event and ask for your money
(17:17):
back.
and for me, I got what I wantedfrom the first keynote, right?
I was able to pull the nuggetsforward and.
it kind of changed our businessthat was the first time I'd gone
to an event and sat through thetalks and really thought about
how can I apply this to mybusiness?
How does this imPax me?
(17:38):
How would this imPax mycustomers?
What if I could do this?
What if I could change that?
It was a very differentexperience.
Eric Roach (17:45):
It's about being intentional of what you really
wanna accomplish at the end ofall of this.
for a vendor, think about yourgoals of the event.
sponsoring events like Beyondare not cheap, no matter what
level you're coming in.
what does success look like?
at the end of the day, what am Igonna walk away saying?
This was a great investment andis it gonna be, I wanna go find
(18:07):
a way to work with 20 new.
MSPs I'm not working with today,or it might be, I wanna make
sure I connect with the couplehundred partners, the current
MSPs that are gonna be there atthe event that I'm already
working with.
It's a great opportunity toconnect with them whether you're
an MSP or a vendor like DropSuite.
I think it's all about planningand being super intentional
(18:29):
about how you wanna spend yourtime, because the moment you
walk into those doors, it's aGaylord.
You're gonna be overwhelmed withoptions of how you can spend
your time.
The more intentional and themore you plan, I think the more
you're gonna walk away with whatyou intended to be success for
the event.
Carrie Richardson (18:47):
Is there any advice you've got for somebody
who's brand new to the eventcircuit on the MSP or the vendor
side?
Eric Roach (18:57):
the keynotes are great.
I would attend all of thekeynotes.
sit in those keynotes, and learnabout not just what other
vendors are doing, but learnabout how is PAX 8 evolving and
how they support MSPs.
There's always bigannouncements.
Whether they be specific to themarketplace or programs or
whatever the case is, I woulddefinitely, invest time in, and
(19:22):
sitting through those keynotesand taking notes, there's always
a lot of value in those.
We have a 20 minute breakoutsession.
Those are an opportunity to,again, be intentional about what
do I wanna learn, whether it'sthis facet of cybersecurity this
backup or whatever the case is.
how do I wanna spend my timebecause I can't be in four
sessions at once.
(19:43):
So what's right for my business?
Carrie Richardson (19:46):
Most MSPs will not have 12 people there.
Eric Roach (19:48):
The other thing I wanna call out, is, PAX 8 does a
really good job about makingtheir executives accessible to
all participants, whether theybe vendor or on the MSP side.
whether it's Rob Rae or NickHeddy or whoever, there might
be.
Execs that you want to makecontact with, network with, ask
(20:09):
questions of, you can beintentional about that as well.
There's always just a ton ofexecutives that are more than
happy to sit down at any pointwith MSPs, and I think that's
something that, can be plannedas well.
Carrie Richardson (20:24):
I met the chief people officer from PAX 8
on the inaugural event, randomlyin an elevator.
And I didn't know who they were,I was just chitchatting with
them.
Later they were at the bar and Iwas like, Hey, elevator guy.
How are you doing?
And we talked about something Iwas trying to do in my business
and he was very encouraging.
(20:45):
Just like a lovely conversation.
He is like, I have to go now.
And the person next to me said,do you know who that was?
I was like, some guy I met inthe elevator a couple hours ago,
and they're like, oh, they're inthe C-suite for Pax 8.
the chief people officer.
So don't assume that people aregonna be too busy to talk to
you.
Eric Roach (21:02):
That's a great example of you never know who
you're talking to be prepared totalk about your business where
you are thriving and where youare struggling.
if that particular personcouldn't help you, I guarantee
they will put you in the rightplace to have those
conversations.
so yeah.
And that's a perfect example ofthe make the most out of every
conversation.
You never know, right.
Carrie Richardson (21:22):
I think that's a great place to stop
today.
Eric, thanks so much for joiningus on the WIN podcast today.
I look forward to seeing you andthe rest of the Drop Suite team
in Denver and June.
Eric Roach (21:32):
Thanks, appreciate it.
Good afternoon everybody.
My name is Carrie Richardson andI am your host for the WIN
Podcast.
With me today is Eric Roach, whois the Senior Vice President of
Global Sales and Marketing forDrop Suite.
Drop Suite's going to beexhibiting at PAX 8 Beyond in
June in Denver, and we're askingthem some questions about how
(00:21):
vendors and MSPs can maximizetheir ROI when they're attending
an event the size of PAX 8Beyond.
Eric, thanks for joining metoday.
Eric Roach (00:30):
Thanks Carrie.
Carrie Richardson (00:32):
tell me about your previous experience at PAX
8.
Beyond.
I know Drop Suite's been avendor there previously.
Eric Roach (00:38):
Yes, we have.
I we've done all three of thePAX 8 events in Denver.
each of the events have beenfantastic.
Last year, did the first, eventin Berlin.
For the PAX 8 emea Beyond event.
This will be our fourth Beyondin total, and we're super
excited about how the PAX 8Beyond community continues to
(00:59):
grow.
it gives us a great opportunityto be in front of not just
hundreds of existing MSPs thatwe deal bus, do business with
daily, but also of courseperspective MSPs that we're not
doing business with today.
we're very excited.
Carrie Richardson (01:13):
Is there a significant difference between
the culture or the community inthe EMEA space, or is it a
fairly similar experience?
Eric Roach (01:22):
I think it's similar in terms of how Pax 8 executes
the event and how they approachthe event and how they are
trying to bring value to each ofthe partners that attend.
The biggest difference is it'smuch smaller in scale as this is
the first time they had done itin Berlin.
We've already signed up for, theevent in Amsterdam coming up, in
October.
(01:42):
The biggest difference is scale,but it feels very similar in
terms of the value we get as aparticipating vendor, in
investing in the show.
We participate in many events,globally on an annual basis.
the thing that stands out aboutthe Beyond event is certainly
the scale.
it is just a huge event, andbecause PAX 8 is such a close
(02:05):
partner of ours, it is a greatopportunity for us to, get in
front of so many of ourpartners.
in terms of the presentations,the individual breakout
sessions, the entertainment,it's at the top of the list in
terms of the events that weparticipated on an annual basis.
Carrie Richardson (02:24):
How far in advance of the event do you
begin preparing?
Eric Roach (02:29):
We kind of start preparing immediately after the
previous.
This is a big event for us.
We think about this event interms of how we launch new
products, how we launch newfeatures, how we launch new
programs.
And a lot of it has to do with.
trying to make that as real timeas possible for each of the
Beyond events.
Once the team goes through aBeyond event, we'll immediately
(02:49):
huddle up, we'll talk about whatworked, what didn't, and the
planning process for how we moveforward with the next version
starts at that point.
We're always collectinginformation on, what moved the
needle, what didn't, in terms ofmessaging, programs, potentially
incentives and spiffs that wemay launch in terms of how we
scan badges at the booth.
(03:10):
Everything gets dissected.
We immediately start actioning,on the next year's, event based
on what we've learned and, thepivots that we're looking to
make.
Carrie Richardson (03:19):
How much preparation goes into inviting
people to visit the booth orhosting events on site?
Eric Roach (03:30):
Months and months.
We have a cross-functional teamacross marketing, across sales,
across management that isplanning for months and
orchestrating what we want todo.
What's the timing?
How do we bring the mostattention to DropSuite with the
audience?
We worked really closely withPAX 8 to understand the dynamics
of the event this year.
We'll work very closely with ourpartners at PAX 8 just to ensure
(03:53):
that what we are planning todeliver is not just gonna meet
the mark for Dropsuite, but it'sgonna meet the mark for the
MSPs.
We start planning for the JuneBeyond events mid January in
terms of really fine tuning ourmessaging and our approach.
Carrie Richardson (04:10):
do you feel like you've got an advantage
being in the PAX 8 marketplaceas a vendor at PAX 8?
Eric Roach (04:15):
PAX 8 is one of our strongest industry partners.
we're always collecting feedbackon where we can be better from
our MSPs on what they're lookingfor, what moves the needle for
them.
MSPs have many choices in whothey do business with, and it's,
important for us to stay infront of what's most important
to them.
They are at the forefront ofevolving end customer
(04:37):
requirements that are alwayschanging.
it's super dynamic.
We wanna make sure we're takingthe right approach in how we
message to our partners on sitewhether it be directly from PAX
8 or those partners themselves.
Carrie Richardson (04:49):
What will you be changing this year based on
feedback from previous years?
Eric Roach (04:54):
We are gonna send a team of 12 or 13 individuals
across functions- sales,product, marketing, support, and
our executive team.
Not only is it important to havegood qualified conversations
with our MSPs at our booth, butwe also want to make sure that
we're, we have the resourcing toallocate time to meet one-on-one
(05:15):
with partners outside of exhibittime.
It's great to have 4 minuteconversations with a partner or
a prospective partner in thebooth.
But more importantly, we wannamake sure that the partners that
want to meet with us and talkabout their business and how we
can potentially work together todrive growth for both of our
companies.
We wanna make sure that we havethe right team and titles, at
the event to accommodate thosemeetings.
(05:36):
We can address everything that'sgonna be on the minds of our
partners and prospectivepartners.
That goes up to the executivelevel.
The other thing that we're doingwhich comes from previous
learnings is being able to havedemo stations in our booth.
We'll have different designateddemo stations where we'll be
able to walk a partner or aprospective partner through a
(05:57):
particular solution.
rather than just talk about it,we can say, Hey, would you like
to come over and we'll show youwhat we're talking about.
the way that we've invested inour booth this year is to enable
different types of conversationson the show floor.
I think that comes with thelearnings over the last couple
years.
Carrie Richardson (06:13):
are you using portable devices or are they
built into the booth?
How do you structure it so thatyou can fit that many people
into the booth With partners whoare crowded around specific
spaces.
Eric Roach (06:26):
the good thing is we have a super smart team who are
experts themselves in figuringout little problems like this.
So, how we're configuring ourbooth is, I believe we have
three demo stations.
We'll be able to run those demostations off a laptop, but we
have big LCD screens.
to accommodate a conversationwhere perhaps it's three or four
(06:46):
partners, in the sameconversation.
So it's not just let me swivelmy laptop around, but we've
invested.
The money to make sure that wehave the right displays to be
able to have that kind of aconversation as well as, you
know, being at the sponsorshiplevel, we have a larger,
footprint in terms of our booth,so we've been able to
strategically place where thosedemo stations are so we're not
(07:08):
talking over one another.
those are just the little thingsI think you pick up over the
years and trying to accommodatethe right conversations as
comfortably as possible for ourpartners.
Carrie Richardson (07:18):
I think we've known Drop Suite for probably 10
to 12 years now.
So when you first started on theevent circuit, you definitely
did not have a booth thatcould've fit three large LCD
screens.
So at what point
Eric Roach (07:35):
we've definitely grown up over the years for
sure.
which is exciting.
as any vendor out there wouldattest to, you have to pick your
bets on.
How big you're gonna go at eachof the events.
budgets are limited and as weplan the calendar of events for
the next year, we have to figureout, where we get the most bang
for our buck The PAX 8 Beyondevent is typically always at the
(07:56):
top of that list because it'sjust so important to us.
drop Suite would not be who weare today without the PAX 8
relationship.
six, seven years into thatrelationship, that still holds
true.
this is one of our biggest betsNot all events are the same.
We're not gonna get the same ROIout of every event.
This is one that we typically goall in on for all of those
reasons.
Carrie Richardson (08:17):
So for events like PAX 8 Beyond or the larger
events, how are youcommunicating with prospects
prior to the event?
how does that differ to howyou're going to engage with the
clients that you're alreadydoing business with?
Eric Roach (08:33):
As you can imagine, it's always easier to,
communicate and prepare withcurrent pro partners because
you're talking to them all thetime.
So as we have our sellerstalking to our partners, they're
asking questions like, Hey,who's going to Beyond?
You know, can we set up time toeither in the booth or, or
separately to meet a lot of ourpartners?
(08:53):
We'll, we'll ask questionsabout, you know, what's on your
mind.
You know, one partner might havea big idea that they wanna run
by us.
and so we'll, so our sales repswill navigate, who's the right
person for that conversation?
This stuff happens, weeks inadvance, which is great, because
then we can kind of make surethat.
We have the right team resourcefor every conversation, our
(09:15):
partner, everything that's topof mind for our partners.
You know, sometimes our partnersmight wanna talk about support
or they might want to talk abouthow do we go drive more leads
together.
So that would be more of amarketing conversation.
we try to get out in front ofthose conversations ahead of
time to make sure we have theright people, scheduled
Carrie Richardson (09:31):
Sorry about
Eric Roach (09:32):
There you go.
Carrie Richardson (09:35):
stop it.
Eric Roach (09:39):
on the perspective partner side, it's tough
because, typically we don't knowwho we're not.
But this is the stuff Itypically have to deal with on
my side of the call.
Carrie Richardson (09:52):
Normally she's pretty good, but I think
Ian ordered pizza, so the pizzaguy is here and that's what's,
happening right now.
she should calm down in asecond.
Eric Roach (10:00):
no problem.
Carrie Richardson (10:00):
Pick it up from where she started.
Sure, sure.
Eric Roach (10:03):
that's on the existing partners who we're
talking to every day, and weknow, when it comes to the,
perspective partners, that's alittle tough because We don't
know who's gonna be there thatwe don't have a relationship
with today.
typically we have a prettyhealthy funnel of new partners
that we're working through torecruit and activate at any
given month anyways, we're nowin the window of time before the
(10:24):
event where we're asking thosequestions, what industry events
are you gonna be at?
We would love to connect withyou face to face.
Oh, you're gonna be at Beyond.
Can we set up some time?
those conversations arehappening, it's just a little
more difficult when you don'tknow, who's gonna be there of
the partners you're not workingwith today.
Carrie Richardson (10:41):
So what have you done?
That's worked really well forDrop Suite over the years.
is there swag that peopleabsolutely love that became
collectors items, or do you kindof, the holy grail,
Eric Roach (10:54):
anybody who understands this business, the
Holy Grail is what's the hookthat you can come up with that's
gonna drive great traffic foryou?
in my experience, the hookreally is not the piece of swag.
It's you being the right partnerfor that MSP to talk to at that
time.
there's something of a relevancyperspective that makes sense for
(11:16):
that partner to wanna go seekyou out.
It's great that you can givethem, whatever the tchotchke of
the year is, whatever the caseis.
Those are always nice.
But the most meaningfulconversations that come to the
booth are from partners whohave.
Thought about who do they wantto talk to?
who are they potentially lookingto work with?
And they need to understand moreabout the solutions, the
(11:37):
company, that sort of thing.
those are always the bestdrivers to the booth.
it's not the swag, it's therelevancy.
Carrie Richardson (11:44):
you mentioned that you time releases or new
offerings with PAX 8 Beyond.
How many partners come up tospeak to you to figure out what
those things are going to be?
Or does it get announced beforethe event so there's some
excitement and people come tothe booth?
Or does it get announced at theevent and people will follow up
(12:05):
with you after?
Eric Roach (12:06):
Yeah, there's, a little bit of everything.
It just depends.
So for Beyond this year, we'vehad some product releases and
feature releases just in thelast.
Month.
That will be big talking pointsat the show.
now that we're about a monthout?
those are all things, from afeatures and functionality
perspective that we will talkabout that we've already
(12:27):
released.
we typically.
we typically have two bigrelease periods throughout the
year.
they happen to be around theBeyond events.
So we're in that process now.
And then we have some other,product releases that will come
out in the fall that willprobably be very much in concert
with, the Amsterdam event inemea.
Carrie Richardson (12:46):
How do you coordinate those schedules?
How do you figure out who'sworking the coffee shift and
who's doing the late night partyshift?
Eric Roach (12:55):
the late night party shift thing always gets figured
out on its own.
We don't have to do muchplanning for that one.
one thing about Drop Suite thatyou probably know because you've
been working with us for years,is.
when we attend an event likethis, titles and everything else
go out the window, you know, weexpect that we're gonna have all
of our people in the booth.
(13:16):
MSPs were around to haveconversations,
Carrie Richardson (13:19):
I've seen she the booth before,
Eric Roach (13:21):
yeah, I'll give you a very specific example in a
second.
the most meaningful time for us,is anytime we can interface with
partners.
we know that when, an MSP goesto Beyond the schedule is
completely packed, They're insessions.
They're in peer-to-peer stuff,they're in at the exhibits.
there's not a ton of free time,and this will get us into what's
(13:44):
most important to a new, MSP interms of how they approach
Beyond.
But what I was gonna say aboutthe booth is we typically have
everybody from our CEO toC-level individuals, to our
sales or product or supportpeople all in the booth
together.
Nobody is above scanning abadge.
Nobody is above giving a demo.
(14:04):
we're all there.
it's kind of a beautiful thingabout Drop Suite overall, but
kind of titles and that stuffgoes out the window.
We're all about having greatinteraction with partners and
that's why they're there.
Carrie Richardson (14:17):
And you mentioned that you had some
advice for MSPs that were new toPAX 8 Beyond this year.
Eric Roach (14:23):
Yeah.
for partners.
specifically MSPs new to anevent like Beyond, the most
important thing you can do,before the event is to plan.
and an an Ms.
P probably the three areas thatI think any Ms.
P would, agree that's mostvaluable in approaching an event
like PAX 8.
Beyond.
(14:43):
The first is connecting withvendors.
That's obviously first andforemost for us, we wanna
connect with you, but it'sconnecting with vendors, not
just vendors that you're workingwith in your portfolio today,
but also vendors that you mightbe targeting.
Like I'm hearing things aboutthis particular vendor, I have a
gap on my line card.
I need to go seek thatparticular, that particular
(15:04):
vendor out to have aconversation about whether
there's a fit.
the first thing is connectingwith vendors.
the second is peer-to-peernetworking.
MSPs, a vendor can tell an Ms.
P all day long about how greattheir solution is and how much
money they're gonna make inselling our solution.
But at the end of the day, MSPsknow that it's the peer-to-peer
networking where they canactually sit down and learn from
(15:26):
each other.
What are you working on?
What vendors are you workingwith that are actually moving
the needle for your business interms of how you, support your
customers?
It's that peer-to-peernetworking It's invaluable.
It's great to catch up withfriends in the industry that you
might see once a year on theconference circuit.
But the learnings that happenbetween MSPs I think is critical
(15:49):
for them.
And that's, that's a big valuein approaching an event last is
taking the opportunity to learn.
what's important for MSPs is,when they think about their tech
stack, what were theconsiderations five years ago
when you built that tech stackare those still the right
solutions in terms of how Iapproach my customers today and
tomorrow as they were 3, 4, 5,4, 5 years ago?
(16:12):
What gaps do I have in my linecard?
it's the greatest gift from anevent like this take the moment
to reflect on your business.
Where you're at in yourbusiness, how do you support
your customers?
The decisions I made 2, 3, 4years ago, are those still the
right decisions for the future?
what are the trends?
(16:33):
What are the hot technologies Ineed to think about as I expand
my offerings to my customers,it's that point of reflection.
that's super important at theend of the day.
Is how an MSP is going to getthe most out of, their two or
three days at Beyond.
So I think it all starts withjust having a plan.
What do I wanna come home with?
And then kind of work backwardsinto how you plan those three
(16:54):
days at Beyond.
Carrie Richardson (16:56):
Actually went to an event early in my career
where the host of the eventstood on the front of the stage
and made everybody write down.
The things that they wanted toget from the event.
And they said, if you don't getthese things from this event, I
want you to come see me afterthe event and ask for your money
(17:17):
back.
and for me, I got what I wantedfrom the first keynote, right?
I was able to pull the nuggetsforward and.
it kind of changed our businessthat was the first time I'd gone
to an event and sat through thetalks and really thought about
how can I apply this to mybusiness?
How does this imPax me?
(17:38):
How would this imPax mycustomers?
What if I could do this?
What if I could change that?
It was a very differentexperience.
Eric Roach (17:45):
It's about being intentional of what you really
wanna accomplish at the end ofall of this.
for a vendor, think about yourgoals of the event.
sponsoring events like Beyondare not cheap, no matter what
level you're coming in.
what does success look like?
at the end of the day, what am Igonna walk away saying?
This was a great investment andis it gonna be, I wanna go find
(18:07):
a way to work with 20 new.
MSPs I'm not working with today,or it might be, I wanna make
sure I connect with the couplehundred partners, the current
MSPs that are gonna be there atthe event that I'm already
working with.
It's a great opportunity toconnect with them whether you're
an MSP or a vendor like DropSuite.
I think it's all about planningand being super intentional
(18:29):
about how you wanna spend yourtime, because the moment you
walk into those doors, it's aGaylord.
You're gonna be overwhelmed withoptions of how you can spend
your time.
The more intentional and themore you plan, I think the more
you're gonna walk away with whatyou intended to be success for
the event.
Carrie Richardson (18:47):
Is there any advice you've got for somebody
who's brand new to the eventcircuit on the MSP or the vendor
side?
Eric Roach (18:57):
the keynotes are great.
I would attend all of thekeynotes.
sit in those keynotes, and learnabout not just what other
vendors are doing, but learnabout how is PAX 8 evolving and
how they support MSPs.
There's always bigannouncements.
Whether they be specific to themarketplace or programs or
whatever the case is, I woulddefinitely, invest time in, and
(19:22):
sitting through those keynotesand taking notes, there's always
a lot of value in those.
We have a 20 minute breakoutsession.
Those are an opportunity to,again, be intentional about what
do I wanna learn, whether it'sthis facet of cybersecurity this
backup or whatever the case is.
how do I wanna spend my timebecause I can't be in four
sessions at once.
(19:43):
So what's right for my business?
Carrie Richardson (19:46):
Most MSPs will not have 12 people there.
Eric Roach (19:48):
The other thing I wanna call out, is, PAX 8 does a
really good job about makingtheir executives accessible to
all participants, whether theybe vendor or on the MSP side.
whether it's Rob Rae or NickHeddy or whoever, there might
be.
Execs that you want to makecontact with, network with, ask
(20:09):
questions of, you can beintentional about that as well.
There's always just a ton ofexecutives that are more than
happy to sit down at any pointwith MSPs, and I think that's
something that, can be plannedas well.
Carrie Richardson (20:24):
I met the chief people officer from PAX 8
on the inaugural event, randomlyin an elevator.
And I didn't know who they were,I was just chitchatting with
them.
Later they were at the bar and Iwas like, Hey, elevator guy.
How are you doing?
And we talked about something Iwas trying to do in my business
and he was very encouraging.
(20:45):
Just like a lovely conversation.
He is like, I have to go now.
And the person next to me said,do you know who that was?
I was like, some guy I met inthe elevator a couple hours ago,
and they're like, oh, they're inthe C-suite for Pax 8.
the chief people officer.
So don't assume that people aregonna be too busy to talk to
you.
Eric Roach (21:02):
That's a great example of you never know who
you're talking to be prepared totalk about your business where
you are thriving and where youare struggling.
if that particular personcouldn't help you, I guarantee
they will put you in the rightplace to have those
conversations.
so yeah.
And that's a perfect example ofthe make the most out of every
conversation.
You never know, right.
Carrie Richardson (21:22):
I think that's a great place to stop
today.
Eric, thanks so much for joiningus on the WIN podcast today.
I look forward to seeing you andthe rest of the Drop Suite team
in Denver and June.
Eric Roach (21:32):
Thanks, appreciate it.
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